Review of R&D programme 1997/98 : for the period April 1997 to March 1998 / Environment Agency.

  • Environment Agency Wales
Date:
1999
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Review of R&D programme 1997/98 : for the period April 1997 to March 1998 / Environment Agency. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    84/124 (page 82)
    82 Publication Ref: R&D Technical Report W86 River Morphology and Plant Relationships Rowell T A, Jeffers | |} and Holmes N T H (1997) Project No. W1-517 Commissioned Programme: Conservation Through detailed analysis of the Nature Conservancy Council’s (NCC) Rivers Database, this project aimed to establish whether river macrophyte communities could be predicted from physical data obtained from maps and field surveys. This would help to determine whether river habitat survey (RHS) could be based on an existing system or required the development of a new one. The study checked the completeness and reliability of the NCC database, and added further data where appropriate. This enabled the completion of the “environmental variables” component of the NCC database, so that community and species associations can be correlated with a variety of external factors. Details are contained in this report, along with the results of statistical analyses of plant-based macrophyte classification. The main conclusion is that RHS classification cannot be directly linked to the NCC macrophyte classification system. A new classification needs to be developed, with data collected through the RHS survey programme. Publication Ref: R&D Technical Report W54 Catchment Ecosystem Research and Development - Scoping Study Hildrew A G, Hutchinson J] D and Ormerod S | (1997) Queen Mary and Westfield Project No. W1-531 Commissioned Programme: Conservation The Agency, the Natural Environment Research Council, English Nature and the Economic and Social Research Council jointly funded a feasibility and scoping study into catchment ecosystem research. This examined the feasibility of undertaking a programme of research and/or development on man’s impact on catchment ecosystems, with the aim of enabling better management of catchments on a sustainable basis. ; The study reviewed current knowledge and identified key scientific and management questions. Five options for further development and new research were assessed on the basis of costs, benefits, constraints and risks/uncertainties. This final report concludes that the most beneficial option would be a programme of development, plus a programme of multi- disciplinary research undertaken by a partnership of scientists and users. Details of the research programme, named CERI (Catchment Ecosystem Research Initiative), include the suggested science programme, approach and location, as well as costs, timetabling and possible management structure. A detailed planning phase is recommended as a next step.